Decline in recruitment starting to slow

Demand for staff is continuing to fall, but there are signs that the labour
market’s rate of decline may have eased.

A report by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation shows that the
number of people placed in permanent jobs fell in December for the eighth
month.

But Report on Jobs, the monthly survey of recruitment consultants, also
reveals that the rate of decline eased for the second consecutive month after a
record low in October last year.

Recruitment consultants report that average salaries of staff taking up
permanent jobs fell for the third consecutive month and average hourly rates of
pay for temporary staff show almost no growth for the second month running.

Job vacancies in the national press in November were down 40 per cent on a
year ago.

There was a big difference between private- and public-sector job ads,
declining 59 and 6 per cent respectively.

Brett Walsh, head of Andersen Human Capital UK, believes unemployment will
rise again before it falls.

"UK employers are waiting to see the impact of the US economic slowdown
and the introduction of the euro," he said.